FIELD EXPERIENCE

St. Thomas School

My first classroom field experience assignment was at St. Thomas School. This is a private
Catholic school located at East Grand Rapids. This was my first experience of what elementary
school teaching styles and environment look like in the United States. The population was
mostly white children and very few other students with white skin. There was no black child in
the school. The parents pay school fees for their children. The students seem to be all Catholic,
and they all go to the church for Morning Prayer before classes begins. The families pay for
their children lunch. During my time at St. Thomas school, I was assigned to observe and assist
the fourth grade teacher, as well as write a lesson plan teach the lesson. This experience stirred
my interest in working with young children, and searching and discovering interesting strategies
and learning activities I could use to capture the students interest, and keep them engaged in
learning.

Fourth grade boys performing experiment and discovering learning

Fourth grade girls performing experiment and discovering learning

William C. Abney
I had my second classroom experience at William C. Abney. This is a charter school located at
East Grand Rapids. Many of the students enjoy free and reduced breakfast and lunch. The
population is mostly children with black skin and very few white skin children. During my time
at Abney, I had the privilege to observe and assist the second grade teacher during math lesson,
as well as write a lesson plan and teach a math lesson. This experience challenged me to work
with kids with different learning styles, and think of differentiated instruction strategies I could
use to help them achieve their learning goal and feel good about their accomplishment.

Hills and Dales Northview Middle School

I had my third classroom experience at Hills and Dales Northview Middle School. The
population is mostly white students and very few students with skin color. During my time at

Hills and Dales Northview Middle School, I had the opportunity to observe and assist the eighth
grade teacher during the Language Art class. I worked with some students and discussed how
they could improve their essay draft papers with the teachers approved rubric. The students
gained some insight from our discussion on how to improve the quality of their essays. I
learned from this experience that I could use nudging and probing questions to motivate
students to share their thoughts and struggles.

Wyoming Elementary School

My fourth classroom experience was at Wyoming Elementary, Grand Rapids. This is a public
school that has very diverse population, and many of the families live at a low socio economic
status. Many of the students are on free and reduced lunch. During my time at Wyoming, I had
the opportunity to work with small reading and writing groups, tutor ELL students in reading,
and instructed full class in a reading lesson. This experience exposed me to the difficulties ELL
students encounter in the learning environment. I learned from this experience that I can use
read aloud story texts to model a specific reading strategy or skill, to inspire students interest
in the story book, to spark a desire, entice, and lure them into wanting to read more story
books for themselves.

Sr. Kate having read aloud lesson with second grade students at Wyoming School

Sr. Kate having one-on-one tutoring reading session with a second grade student at Wyoming

Oak-view Public School

My fifth classroom experience was at Oak view Public School. The population is mostly white
students, and few colored skin students. During my time at Oak view, I had the opportunity to
tutor two students after school hours. I designed and taught lessons that addressed the
students areas of difficulties in reading and writing. The lessons helped them to improve on
specific reading and writing skills. This experience challenged me to be creative in developing
my lesson plans, and in looking for interesting learning activities that will motivate students to
learn while having fun with the activities.